Catching Tales...

Gemma Toombs

A beautifully written story of a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome and a hope of redemption in the end. Like Gemma I want to sympathize with Ty her captor but in the end it was still all wrong. Ty for me is not in the right mind frame to try "saving" Gemma in his own way and his character is too broken it would never have worked. His intentions were all good and in the end it's what made him do the right thing for Gemma and maybe for himself too.

This second installment of the Chaos Walking Trilogy once again left me in shock and in despair. It took me quite some time to pick up once again with this series since its predecessor left me reeling. I was put through another round of twist and turns and one man I simply want to drop dead already Mayor Prentiss, his brand of manipulation and psychological warfare onto Todd is something else but I have to admit it always took him one step ahead in everything else. I was feeling mighty frustrated with how Viola and Todd were trapped and became pawns of their games The Ask and The Answer. This one is more action packed and even more grittier and darker and violent than before. Todd and Viola really evolved in this book and after all that they have been through they remain each others real strength and anchor. No lame and cheesy romance between this two but I felt that they don't need those words of affection their actions says it all. Still do not underestimate the power of words they can cut you down or buoyed you up. There were some secondary characters here that also surprises me, most especially Davy Prentiss who became a tragic figure in the end at the hands of the man he called father. Mayor Prentiss finally revealed what his real plans for Todd and it is up to Todd if he will make that same choice up to the end. There are no happiness in the horizon only a dread of what is to come but I find myself captivated with the story and I think this is one of the most surprising series I have read to date. I don't know about others who have read this series but this one is brilliant.

"Finally, we come to the real thing, the things that makes men, men. The thing we were born for, Todd. War." ~ Mayor Printess

This is possibly one of my new favorite urban fantasy series to date. This is the first book I have read from this author. There are shape shifters, vampires and elementals that are referred to as the Others who rule the earth and they do prey on humans. But through the years they learn to "get along" each other. I really like how this world was set up and one mysterious runaway human who is hiding among them by being their new Human Liaison and her name is Meg Corbyn. She comes off as shy and meek but she is smart and attentive to others but she has a secret that she is desperately hiding from them. She is being hunted by her previous owners, for she is a Cassandra Sangue-Blood Prophet. It was really interesting the way how her being a blood prophet works it was a bloody and painful process and I am just glad she managed to get away from the horrifying place she came from and no longer suffer that ordeal.  I love how she came to be close to the Others with her genuine determination, sincere kindness and at times her selflessness that shines through even when she is in pain. I thought I would find her annoying for she is not the usual strong willed and badass heroine that I do like but I became endeared to her surprisingly this kinda "special snow flake" girl character had me rooting for her. I like how many of the Others join forces to protect Meg and claim her as one of them. But the danger is far from over for the previous owners will probably stop at nothing to get back their precious human commodity. Since she grew up with almost little contact with the outside world and in the human society, she is still pretty much naive in the ways of the human world and probably that kind of innocence is what appealed her to the Others. She doesn't see them in the usual prejudice human eyes. I cracked up when she got confused about the stag sticks in fact there were a lot of funny scenes in this book but i cannot mention them all here. There were actions, mysterious plot, many interesting secondary characters, and the many ways the Others actually made extra efforts to accommodate Meg in their community and help her integrate. So one of the things I wanna know now is whether something will ever happen between Meg and Wolgang, they have a volatile relationship for now but I think the alpha wolf is melting *grinning*.

So I was pretty excited for this one, it is a spin off series of one of the characters from the Fallen Too Far series and that is one Woods Kerrington. He was so sweet and supportive in that series that naturally i wanted him to have his own story as well. He came from a wealthy family and is working real hard in his position in his father's company in order to get that well deserved promotion but his father had certain expectations and conditions to his promotion and it was pretty much callous and cold of his dad to treat him like that. Then he met Della and they had a one night stand that really rocked both of their world. But Della is just passing through town for she is on the road to seek herself. I am not really liking her character here all that much maybe because she was too emotionally sensitive for me, I get that she have deep troubling issues but I was not ready for all that angst she is giving off. But their path cross once again months later and this time the attraction is still sizzling more than ever.  Woods is  struggling through his feelings for Della while she is within his work vicinity but he knows his father will not be liking it one bit. I for one was not sad to see the old man go the way he did at the conclusion of the story after all the trouble he made to Della and Woods. So this one ended with that piece of shocking news about Kerrington Sr. and what it means for Woods and Della, i don't know yet. There will be a sequel for sure but no news of when it will come out. However, the reason I only gave this a not so stellar rating because I was quite disappointed that Woods was paired with someone like Della.

This is the sequel to the Everneath novel. If anyone have read the first book will want to get into this one immediately because that last book ended in such a major cliffhanger with Jack sacrificing himself to save Nikki from the Tunnel. Now here we have Nikki trying desperately to find ways to get back into the Everneath and rescue Jack before he will be forever lost to her. She is running out of time and only Cole an Everliving can and will probably help her. I said to myself beware Nikki, he may be somewhat reluctant to help you and end up helping you anyway but he warned you already he is no hero. But like i said Nikki is desperate and she will take whatever help she can get and think about the consequences later on. The world and their journey in the Everneath was interesting since the lore of this story was based on Greek mythology. There has been certain clues of the events that led to the Tunnel to where Jack is trapped that made me convince that Cole may have a hidden agenda. Well I hate to be right on my suspicions on Cole but in a way I think it was one of the possibility that will happen to Nikki in the conclusion of this book. She didn't recognize that she was being manipulated from the beginning so now I am curious of how she will get out of her current predicament in the final installment of this series which I have to wait for next year. Poor Jack I am happy that he is back in the land of the living but he doesn't know about what happened to Nikki yet. But the heroine is now determined more than ever to destroy Everneath if that what it takes to get her life back.

Gideon and Eva's story has not yet concluded in this latest installment of the Crossfire series. Just when I thought that I will be getting all the answers but nope there are not yet done with all the drama they have to deal with from other people especially from their past who keeps making trouble in their relationship. They are struggling still to keep their relationship intact and what they can do is to keep on reaffirming their love and commitment to each other. I have to say I am rooting for both of them no matter how insane and even dangerous it gets. Thankfully this one also ended not with a major cliffhanger but the usual amount of anticipation for the next book to come out and hopefully more answers will unravel and that Gideon will gradually stop having those intense nightmares. Again I am in awe and even still be surprised on how far Gideon will go and do to protect Eva. That level of power he exudes to make things happen in his effort to protect and be close to Eva time and time again is to be envied. I may love and hate this two at the same time for their f*ck up issues and that is alright with me because I don't want them to be perfect than they already are in other aspects. This is one of the most compelling contemporary romance series yet that I have ever read. Therefore I declare that I am entwined with this book.

This was a drama filled yet sweet swoon worthy conclusion to the love story of badass gun wielding Blaire and her sexy gorgeous man Rush Finlay. We have the wedding, beautiful baby and family reconcilation and more. But watch out for the b*tchy nasty Nan, Rush's half sister who was wrecking havoc in everbody's lives.  She have issues i couldn't care less because she is that bitter. There was a lovely surprise from two characters in this story that i am keen to know more namely Grant and Harlowe.

When you find your reason for living,hold onto it. Never let it go. Even if it means burning other bridges along the way ~ Rush Finlay

As much as I want Alina and Mal to be able to escaped to a far away land but fate have a different path for Alina and for the Grisha power that she is born with. Both of them fell into the hands of the Darkling once again and they are hunting for another amplifier! this was a surprising twist and Mal will be forced to use his tracking ability to keep both of them alive.

"You two make it so easy. I prick him, you bleed" ~ Darkling

So we meet the Darkling once again but this time something more twisted and dark is going on with him and his power is becoming more sinister and harder for Alina to defeat. And aboard the whaler ship we also meet new characters like Sturmhond a privateer that was being hired by the Darkling to travel for hunting the Rusalye "Ice Dragon". Now I know there is more to this Sturmhond person than meets the eye and even Alina feels something is off with his face...hehehe! He is a smuggler by trade and he is an opportunist and generally charming but you can also sense that there is somethng ruthless and calculating with the way he speak and acts and I had my hunch of his real identity when Alina started taking notice too long of his face and I thought could it be that he is disguising as someone. And only because i just finished reading a book about main characters going undercover as smugglers so I was on the roll making my hunch as the story progress about this Sturmhond character. Then we have the twins Tolya and Tamar who are working aboard the vessel under Sturmhond. There are a lot of interesting inventions that were being integrated into the story courtesy of Sturmhond and made Alina's journey back to Ravka more exciting but most of the time they just think Sturmhond is mad with all the risk he is taking.

"Anything worth doing starts as a bad idea" ~ Sturmhond
"I guess I like fixing things. I always have" ~ Sturmhond

This guy have a lot of persona that it is sometimes hard to pinpoint when he is being sincere towards Alina. Meanwhile the Darkling was temporarily defeated by Alina as they managed to escape his clutches for the second time but this time he can haunt Alina almost everywhere it is creepy like having a delusional breakdown that can actually touch you and that is bad news people.

"There are no others like us, Alina" he whisphered. "And there never will be" ~ the Darkling

On the other hand back in the Little Palace, Alina decided to take a more active role in trying to defeat the Darkling and his army once and for all with the help of Sturmhond and the remaining Grisha who did not join the Darkling but this almost cost the relationship between Alina and Mal as they both started to drift apart and it was very heart breaking when you know that both are struggling against the reality of Alina's power and who and maybe what she is meant to be while leaving Mal behind who is desperately holding onto the girl he once knew and wanted back.

"You were like a stranger, Alina. Beautiful. Terrible." ~ Mal

There are times that i am frustrated with Alina here but I came to understand the immense responsibility of her power she have and to the people of Ravka she needs to defend for as much as she comes to hunger for the power it craves inside her, her conscience won't let her. So I love that there is still that little girl inside her that keeps her from succumbing to the ultimate power that is seducing her and she makes mistakes and is afraid and lonely and I was just so sad that it was tearing her apart and also tearing her and Mal apart.

"I have loved you all my life Mal. There is no end to our story."~Alina

"I thought you wanted to go." ~Alina
"I wanted you to ask me to stay." ~ Mal

But do not worry guys for we all know that the road they travelled together and apart may not always be easy but they will remain unbroken at the heart of it and that confrontation towards the end with the Darkling proves that Mal will never leave Alina no matter what!!! I was elated :)

I was scared that Alina may not survive that last show down with the Darkling but the book ended with not a cliffhanger but with a little hope and a conviction from our dear Sun Summoner that even when barely breathing and alive she will rise again.

"The Light won't come,Mal. My power is gone." ~ Alina

I want to see Sturmhond again in the final installment of this series, he better show his royal smug face there with a new and better Hummingbird :)

~You Cannot Violate the Rules of this World without a Price~

Jesse and Ava has finally tied the knot and now its confession time for Jesse. There will be still more secrets to reveal and the final one will be explosive and it freaking blew my mind. To think with all these drama surrounding the crazy and passionate love affair between this two I sometimes think Ava will go nuts with how Jesse is increasingly becoming more possessive and needy and he continues to tramples everyone who gets in his way. Before this will irritate the hell out of me but now that his tragic past came to surface i will just have to deal with this man's flaws like Ava did and love him the best i can. Lovely epilogue from Jesse's POV and still the same Lord of the Manor without the manor or is there?

Publication is this July 2013 so I want to thank the one who uploaded it on some random forum I stumbled unto while googling this one for the ARC. I didn't know I get lucky to get the real deal :) However, i will not spoil anything more about this final installment of this This Man series in respect to those who are still awaiting for the release date.

For those who have read Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens and Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuirre this story will definitely sound familiar to you. This is an utter cluster f*ck of emotions and drama especially when you have a love triangle like Harper the 18 year old shy, naive and a virgin to boot and Chase the womanizing senior college guy and Brandon the junior college guy who sounds almost perfect and an underground fighter as well. So Harper found herself agonizing over two hot guys that she even compared herself to Elena in Vampire Diaries O_o like really? I am not a huge fan of Harper's character here, majority of the time she comes off pretty much an immature and irresponsible young girl to me. I take that she is prone to make mistakes in this angst filled drama plot but the consequences of her betrayal was just predictable although there is one  tragic twist of event that I did not see coming but it did set up for how the rest of the story will go. I think that after all that colossal mess that Harper made she still end up with an almost fairytale like life and almost everybody except for the harpy b*tches are in love with Harper and thinks she is that an amazing person that they need to fuss over and take care and defend all the d*mn time. But I do not think this is one of those stories that should inspire me because I was not really favorable with the situation that Harper find herself in at such a young age. I admit I cried in some scenes and think these people are too good for Harper she was the one who committed the ultimate betrayal and yet she was still excused despite her feeling guilty all the time about it. Over all I came to appreciate the reward of this story in the end which is about forgiveness and second chances.

That was the mysterious solution and plan to the predicament of Vincent Delacroix, who for anyone of you have read the second book "Until I Die" of this series ended with a major heart breaking cliffy with Vincent's body being taken by the villain and burned never to be animated again. And his human girlfriend Kate will forever be doomed to long and love him in his volant form for all eternity till she expires if she cannot find a way to bring him back to his animated form. Kate was determined to not lose Vincent forever and finds herself back to a very familiar soil across the pond to search for answers. And I was glad they were answers found and when applied correctly was met with a succesful result amidst time constraint and now Vincent is back gorgeous and sweeter than ever and also became the new leader of the France branch of revenants. Although the whole ancient ceremony was sort of a trial and error thing at first and there were funny moments during that scene.

A war has broken out between the numa and bardya in France and the psychotic b*tch villain Violette is sending out hundreds of her numa minions to wreck havoc in Paris. The bardya are outnumbered and the real Champion that is being prophesied is needed more than ever to come into power and help the light defeat the dark essentially. I have my theory of who is the real Victor and I was pleased to find out i was right about that person when the new guerisseur confirmed the identity. Although the way Violette executed her method of confirming her very own suspicions as well regarding the real Revenant Champion was shocking it left me screaming my head off for a moment there, she was certainly ruthless. By this time I was pissed off already about this bitter power hungry traitor that I was extremely happy when she was finally being dealt with by the Champion in a headless manner. 

Despite the tendency of the story  of this final installment of this series to be predictable due to clues and hints here and there that were being revealed as the story progresses, there were still many instances that certain twist and turns left me speechless and screaming no! The pacing was fast enough to keep the thrill of the plot going and I will say this is a great conclusion to this series. However, there are still characters here whose fate I wanted to be given closure to instead of left hanging there and there are others who got their heart's desire but not everybody got a happy ending but it only made me want to clamor more for a spin off stories for these said characters. Suffice to say I am done with Kate and Vincent's epic love affair and now I want someone for Jules so he can heal his heart and I can be happy for him as well. 

This is the sequel to Sweet Evil wherein british drummer boy son of the Duke of Lust ~ Kaidan Rowe left Anna to move to LA to try to stay away from her for a love or even a relationship between Nephilims is a big no no in their world and the consequences if caught will be deadly. Since then it has been six months since Anna last saw Kaidan and she herself underwent a drastic change in her outward appearance as well as her lifestyle in school. Gone is our dear goody two shoes A+ student Anna and behold the trendiest party girl in town. Anna plays her role as the daughter of the Duke of Alcohol and Drugs to the best of her ability in order to satisfy those dreadful demon whisperers that floats around like spies to Niphilims reminding them of their "job" towards mankind. She feels guilty about it afterwards and hates it for what she is compelled to do to her fellow under age drinkers. The job itself is such sweet sweet temptation to Anna if ever she gets out of hand. However, the pressure of her "job" and her agonizing feelings for Kaidan has taken its toll on her. Meanwhile, Kaidan is doing his frustrating best to cut off Anna from his life and yet he can't seem to make himself stay away for long. And let me tell you especially you ladies that when Anna went to LA and reunited with Kaidan there while on a very important secret errand~ everything went blazing hot under the California Sun. Anna sure have some strong inner will of steel to have stayed "pure as a driven snow" after all that steamy kisses from one Kaidan Rowe ;) They are making up for lost time apparently which is no problemo at all from this reader.The amount of sexual tension that this two have and to always have that point of retreat between them is making me produce sounds from my mouth that was not human...lol!

Let us go back to other things that are happening in this book, there is an ancient prophecy that was revealed that involves Anna and her father Duke Baliel is making things happen to help her fulfill that prophecy but they need allies and so Anna finds herself traveling all over the world seeking said allies with Kopano the son of wrath but  is no longer practicing his "job" and for awhile in the beginning he may turned out to be the other love interest but it was not meant to be. Anna will gain two new Nephilim allies that will appear towards the end with her and other previous characters that involves almost trap in an island and submerged under water in order to avoid detection from some unexpected Dukes and something horrible went down. But all Anna and her friends can do was watch it all happen right before their eyes unable to do anything at that moment...it was all so tragic.

I want to give props to the other supporting characters that stand out to me like Patti and her constant love and support for Anna for she is that awesome. The ever fun loving thrill seeker very funny Blake the son of the Duke of Envy and also the best friend of Kai. This guy showed Anna how to have fun the California way :) Anyway, I didn't expect to feel all that giddy for Kai and Anna but I guess I underestimated their chemistry together and for awhile there I almost forgot that this is a paranormal young adult fantasy.

The story did not end in a cliffy but it was obvious that Anna and Kai's situation are now more dangerous than ever when the Dukes have their suspicions of a traitor among them. Still I am looking forward to the next installment and that Anna will finally get to use that revered Sword of Righteousness and kick some Dukes ass back to hell!

French suave Jules is a revenant and best friend of Vincent and this novella "Die for Her" is his point of view from the books "Die for Me" and "Until I Die". Basically it is like a run through of other tid bits that we were not aware of in the previous books. Oh dear! unrequited love is unrequited and that is never a good thing if the object of your adoration is in love with your very best friend. And there is possibly no way that this will end happily for Jules if he is to act upon his feelings for Kate. However, what I do appreciate in this one is that Jules did not fall that instantly with Kate his feelings did grew gradually to his annoyance and for all his flirtatious ways he didn't know he is capable of falling that hard after being a revenant for hundreds of years I think. He ends up capturing his love for Kate in his numerous paintings instead which he kept hidden in his studio and vow to be loyal to his best friend Vincent and be there for Kate as a friend. Yes our dear Jules will be friend zoned forever and that is a long time for an undead zombie like creature like him. So he keeps hiding his feelings with other girls hoping that he can momentarily forget about Kate.

I am also reminded that Kate doesn't sound all that amazing anyway for Jules to be enamored with , even though she is no longer a sad girl anymore. I think it's enough that she has Vincent to moon over her like a puppy. It is creepy enough that these revenants have obsessive tendencies to stalk their persons of interest like seriously they will follow you everywhere that they can in anyway that they can and that is just creepy as hell no matter how the good intentions behind it.

So I hope that Jules will somehow get over with Kate and not end up to actually die for her because it would be a total overkill as far as protecting her in any way he can, since I'm pretty sure Kate won't be feeling suicidal any time soon. But d*mmit Ms. Plum better give our darling Jules his own soul mate or something preferrably ASAP.

Todd Hewitt is about to turn thirteen in a month, the youngest boy in a town of men in a town called Prentisstown. What is unique in this town is the noise, this noise are the thoughts of men and even animals that everyone in town can hear and there are no women that lives in this town anymore. They were said to have been killed off by the Noise Germ a long time ago or so he was told. Todd who is eagerly anticipating the day he will turn thirteen so that he can be considered a man already have no idea of the sacrifice he needs to undergo to be called a man in a town of Printesstown. One day he came across a spot with no noise and stumble upon a girl the very first one he ever laid eyes on. Soon he finds himself on the run as far away as he can from Printesstown with Viola and his faithful dog companion Manchee. Todd has no idea why he needs to get away from the men of Printesstown only that he was told to go as fast as he can and find shelter and safety in another settlement. While on the run Todd slowly began to unravel the truths about his town and its dark sad history and why an army of men who are set to find him wants to do with him. He realizes in the end there is an important choice he has to make that will mean life or death for him. However, can he bring himself to do it for a boy who thinks he can't kill after all?

There are many dark and unpredictable twist and turns in this story and for all the running and dodging the bullet even that Todd and Viola did in the end there was just a sense of great loss and defeat for Todd and even for me. I adore that dog Manchee but alas he suffered an untimely demise and I was deeply saddened about that. The narrative writing style of the author can be compared to the Dustland series of Moira Young. There were intended words that were misspelled to give a more distinct voice of the character of Todd. That did not distract me from the compelling adventures of Todd who I hope will continue to hope and fight for his freedom and for Viola from the monsters that are the men of Printesstown.

The Elite is the second installment to The Selection series, and here we have America Singer still on the running for the crown and princess bride of Prince Maxon. They are now down to six candidates from the original thirty five that were choosen as initials in the first book and the remaining candidates are referred to as The Elite. While all this business about the selection of the new princess bride for Prince Maxon sounds so exciting and glamorous the story is essentially a love triangle between America and Prince Maxon and Aspen (America's old boyfriend) who is now working in the palace as one of the guards.

The task for the Elites has become more challenging and although Prince Maxon has expressed his clear intentions already to America that she is his only choice if she is willing and committed to be his wife and princess to serve by his side, America was being a freaking bi-polar of an idiot. While I understand some of her concerns but come on make up her mind already. When she discovered that Prince Maxon wasn't being forthcoming with his feelings with the other candidates and felt betrayed by it she lashes out by betraying his trust in return in public it almost cost her her place in the running. But somehow she was given another chance but this time she needs to step up her A game when she realizes that she wants and loves Prince Maxon afterall. She has her work cut out for her when although he still have his heart she needs to earn back his trust this time. And the competition is going to be fierce and dangerous when the King himself is not in favor of her at all. In the midst of the Selection process there are rebels who are attacking the palace every now and then and I'm not so sure what do these rebels really wants. Maybe they want to participate in the pageantry too?

This second installment is more engaging than the first one but America was giving me a headache with her form of he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not decision making. It was like she wants to have the best of both world. Maybe she should have stick to her original plan to stay and enjoy the food until the Prince will kick her out. Not necessarily a  bad idea. Ah! such is the life in the palace of our dear Ms. America Singer on her journey to  win the coveted crown that she didn't covet in the first place. 

And that's it for now from the Princess Diary of Ms. America Singer and let us all toast her good luck and break a leg or something.

With the first book of the Dustland series that left off with Jack giving Saba his farewell kiss but with a promise that he will come back to her after finishing an important errand, I was already anticipating for their next reunion in this second installment "Rebel Heart". A distressing news about Jack set Saba once again on the road to another place to meet up with him and help him out once again from a dangerous situation. Despite the warnings and grave doubts and discouragements from Lugh and friends who believes that Jack has betrayed her, she was determined to stuck to her faith in him and seek out the truth herself. A new threat has arise, it seems that the Tontons have a new leader that sounds more cunning and systematic in his operation and Jack  somehow got involved with them. What is more is that there is a price on her head for the Angel of Death to be delivered to this new leader who is called the Pathfinder.

I confess I was wary that what Saba might find may be heart breaking. While I admire Saba in the first book for her fighting spirit and sheer will to survive, in here i came to recognize another side of her one that is prideful and selfish even. The somewhat pragmatic character that I saw in Saba in the previous book was now Gone with the Wind in here all in the name of love. Many times I found myself frustrated with her decisions but I learned to accept her mistakes because I understand that she needs to learn these things the hard way and she also acknowledges these mistakes. It was interesting of how the direction of this story went it was not something I would have thought it would really play out. The revelation about Jack was indeed heart breaking but then not everything is what it seems. Saba was feeling devastated and I was too! She then encountered DeMalo again and something happened that left a feeling in my gut that this will have a nasty consequences later on :( This was not the reunion I was hoping for but do not despair for not everything is lost I hope.The majority of the first half of the book conveys the changes that are surfacing between Saba and Lugh who were inseperable before but now they drifting apart and by the end of this book there might not be enough to hold them back together again like the way they were and It was such a sad sad realization. There were no happy outcomes in general :(

Saba may have experienced many great loss in here but she also gained another loyal animal companion in the form of a wolfdog name Tracker. Now I think Nero and Tracker makes a great sidekick for a destined warrior like Saba. As for Jack and Saba it was another bittersweet farewell dance but here is one die hard romantic that will keep hoping for the best.

 "I don't need no stone to find you. I'd find you anywhere." Jack to Saba in Blood Red Road

Yes the road that Saba has set upon may be treacherous but I find that I do like it. Once again the narrative writing style of the author has sucked me into dustland and d*mn if I still don't feel the sands behind my eyelids.